


Strawberry

by koto



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Boys Kissing, Childhood Friends, Friends to Lovers, Halloween, Kissing, M/M, excuses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:59:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27293065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/koto/pseuds/koto
Summary: Inspired by a tweet by the brilliant futurelikejicasso:halloween concept: minsung passing candy w their mouths like minho literally always wants to do and eventually the candy stops factoring in
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know
Comments: 38
Kudos: 526
Collections: Minsung





	Strawberry

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FutureLikeJicasso](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FutureLikeJicasso/gifts).



> Hi I wrote this in like six hours it seems rushed because it was halloween is a few hours away enjoy!  
> Find me on twitter at @ao3koto

“So it’s like a party game.”

“That’s not a real party game, Minho. It doesn’t make sense,” Jisung sighs, staring at his best friend in disappointment. _Ridiculous._

Minho holds up a piece of candy, wrapped in red foil (cherry flavor?), and unwraps it ceremoniously. “It does make sense. It makes perfect sense. I put this,” he says, placing the candy onto his tongue, “here. And then I suck it for a few seconds, and I lean to the person next to me and pass it to them. But you can’t use your hands, so you use your tongue and lips and stuff.”

“I still don’t think it’s real. Like I’ve heard of that _type_ of game, with pieces of paper and stuff, but not candy.”

“It’s real at Halloween parties, and it’s gonna be real tomorrow. And I know you don’t normally do this shit, so you don’t know how it works. So you’d better wrap your head around it quickly,” Minho says, tucking the candy into the side of his cheek. They were sitting in Minho’s room, lounging on his bed, finishing up their costumes for tomorrow as they’ve done each year since childhood when Minho suddenly brought up this damn game. Now Jisung is staring at the candy in his cheek, looking at the way Minho’s lips have become a little red from the artificial dye, wondering what they taste like. Maybe he stares too long, because Minho sucks the candy out from his cheek and holds it between his teeth to show it off to Jisung. “You wanna try? It’ll make sense if you try.”

“Do I want to- Huh? Isn’t that a little intimate?” Jisung asks. He can feel his ears heat up, his eyes widen, and he knows he must look ridiculous based on the way his best friend is grinning at him. His best friend who he’s very much like to be more than that, who talked him into this party, and who is very likely about to talk him into something that could be too much to handle.

Minho gets on his knees, leaning in towards Jisung with the candy still in his teeth. It’s maybe 3/4ths the size it was when he’d opened it, red and glistening and overpowering his nose with the smell of sugar and artificial flavor. “It’s fine, just try it. I’m not sick, are you?”

“No, I’m not sick,” Jisung says, gulping down his fears. “Fine.” _Who knows if he’ll get another chance like this?_ He climbs to his knees and perches his hands atop them, leaning in closer to Minho and trying not to lose balance.

They both lean in closer, more, more, until their noses are touching and their lips are almost there. He grips his knees, trying to keep his hands from trembling, but it’s hard not to while being in this close proximity to someone like Minho. To _specifically_ Minho. Jisung tries to do this efficiently, bite the round candy and pull it from his friend’s mouth without getting too close, but when Minho unclenches his jaw Jisung loses his grip and the candy goes tumbling down, landing on the comforter and leaving a little red mark. “Shit.”

“It’s not gonna work like that, Ji. You need to suck or let me pass it with my tongue or something,” Minho says, picking up the candy and tossing it out. “Try again?”

“Uh, sure.” God, he’s really got himself into something this time. He could say no, easily, and Minho would get it. He’s sure he would. But maybe a little part of him is too excited to see where this goes to abandon ship. “You got any strawberry ones?”

“I do,” Minho says, holding one up proudly. “Ok, I’m gonna hold it between my lips this time. You suck, ok?” he asks. Jisung nods, and they get back into the same position as before, this time with Minho’s lips puckered out and the candy perched between. Jisung stares for a second, at Minho’s plump lips, his perfect facial structure, the way his eyes rest gently closed and his lashes brush against high cheekbones. How could he not fall for his best friend when he’d grown up to look like _that?_

And then he leans in again, puckers his own lips out, presses them gently to Minho’s (oh my god, his lips are touching Minho’s) and sucks. He can taste the sweetness of the strawberry in the air he brings in, faint but definitely there. The candy dislodges a little, but not enough to move into Jisung’s mouth, so he thinks of what else to do. If he sucks too hard, it’s just going to go crashing into his teeth, which seems uncomfortable for everyone involved. He’s going to have to use his tongue.

_Oh god, he’s going to have to use his tongue._

But he can’t get any closer without toppling over. Jisung opens his eyes and assesses the situation, taking note of the new red flush on Minho’s ears and the way his knuckles are turning white too. _He’s not the only nervous one._ “Um, I think I have to-” Jisung starts, standing on his knees. “I have to get a better angle.” He crawls a little closer, hoists a leg over Minho’s knees, straddles his lap, and clutches his shoulders.

“Is that better?” Minho asks, eyes still squinted shut.

“Yeah, it’s better,” Jisung mumbles. He leans in again, moves his mouth to Minho’s, slips his tongue underneath the candy and between Minho’s lips, and scoops it up.

Done.

Jisung pulls the candy into his mouth, giving it a good suck and enjoying the sweet flavor taking over his tastebuds. He opens his eyes to see Minho staring at him from below, eyes wide and jaw slack. “You did it.”

“I did it,” Jisung says, and now he’s the one proudly displaying the candy between his teeth. Minho plants his hands behind him on the bed and leans back a little, looking at Jisung with a cloud of emotions on his face he can’t quite interpret.

“Good. So, my turn now. Pass it back,” Minho says quietly. Asking for more. _Jisung can do more_.

“Yeah, sure,” he breathes, moving his grip on Minho’s shoulders to cup the sides of his face and angle his head back a bit. “Open your mouth a little.”

Minho does as he’s told, opening his mouth and sticking his tongue out just the tiniest bit, just enough for Jisung to collect the candy on his tongue and position it into Minho’s mouth. Jisung gasps a little when Minho closes his lips around Jisung’s tongue and sucks, bringing the candy into his cheek and and pulling off of Jisung’s tongue with a final sucking noise. “I got it.”

“You got it” Jisung agrees, hands still cupping Minho’s cheeks, admiring the glint in his eyes now that they’re finally open. He knows that glint, knows what it means; Minho is very pleased with himself. “Should we try again?”

“Just to make sure,” Minho says, leaning back up to Jisung and pressing their lips back together. Jisung maneuvers their angle into what can only be seen as a kiss, and fuck it, it might as well be. Minho rolls the candy up with his tongue, Jisung licks his own across it, and the candy is passed through the barrier of their mouths again. He could pull away, deem it a success, save himself from the embarrassment of getting too heated. But Minho isn’t, and Jisung is weak. He moves his left hand from Minho’s cheek to the back of his head, threads his fingers through his best friends hair, tries not to moan when he feels hands crawling up his legs and around his waist and arms wrapping around him in a tight hold. The candy rolls between their mouths again, and it becomes hard to tell where Jisung’s mouth ends and Minho’s begins; everything tastes like strawberry.

Within a few minutes the candy has grown small, to the point where any sane person would have just bitten it to pieces by now, but they’re still going strong. It isn’t until Jisung feels the final piece of sugar evaporate that he slowly pulls away panting and they gaze at each other with hooded eyes. Jisung almost just leans back in, throws caution to the wind and kisses his best friend like he’s wanted to for longer than he cares to admit, but Minho finds words faster than Jisung can find courage.

“You’re really good at that,” Minho breathes out, loosening the grip on Jisung’s wait and letting his hands perch on the other boys hips instead.

“Really?”

“Yeah, an expert, I think,” Minho says with a little chuckle.

Jisung looks at him, his lips pink and spit slick and his ears flushed to match. “I think I can do better. With more practice.” Minho stares up, eyes shocked before his face morphs into a smile and a knowing look takes over.

“I see. You’ve always been a perfectionist over the weirdest things,” Minho chuckles, reaching for the bag of candies. “Blue raspberry good?”

“Good,” Jisung agrees, unable to restrain himself from leaning in and getting close even before Minho has the candy fully unwrapped. When he sucks it into his mouth Jisung closes the gap, prying Minho’s lips open with his tongue and greedily licking into his mouth. The taste is a little bit tart, a little more electrifying than the sugary sweetness of the strawberry, has him a little more wired than before. It seems like Minho feels it too as he runs his hands up Jisung’s body and pulls him closer with a firm grip. Jisung lets out a sound of surprise when he feels his best friend pushing up on his haunches, then a sigh when he tips them over with a springing movement and lays Jisung on his back, switching positions so he’s the one doing the straddling. It’s harder to push the candy up and out of his mouth like this, and quite honestly he’s done with putting on the act, so he just keeps it and lets Minho chase after the flavor, lick into his mouth and suck on his lips until long after it’s gone. When they finally pull away from each other, Jisung can’t help but laugh at his bright blue tongue and the way his hair lays as he hovers from above.

“Uh, yeah, so that’s how you play,” Minho says in a breathy voice before collapsing onto the bed next to Jisung.

“Great.” Jisung tries to shift a little, to lay on his side and look at his best friend in all his glory, but when he does something sharp goes into his side and he springs up with a yelp.

“Are you okay?” Minho asks, sitting up and looking at him with concern. Jisung looks at the culprit, a sharp black jewel that he’d been in the process of sticking to his witches cloak for tomorrow night, and holds it up.

“This little bastard tried to kill me,” he accuses. Minho pries it from his hand and stands, picking up the cloak and their shared bottle of craft glue so he can lay it down and apply the gem.

“Shouldn’t cause any more problems. Ok?”

“Ok.” Jisung looks down at all the empty spaces he’s traced out and grimaces. _Guess they should get back to why he’s actually here._

They spend the rest of the night on their costumes, Jisung gluing intricate gems to his cloak and hat while Minho fastens glittery black fur lining to his makeshift catsuit and ears. He tucks another strawberry hard candy into his mouth as he works, wondering if the taste would forever be ingrained in his mind as a link to the first time he felt Minho’s lips on his own. Praying it wouldn’t be the last.

* * *

“You two look incredible,” Chan says, welcoming them into his decked out house. He’s gone all out to host this party, from the intricate vampire costume he has on to the cobwebs spread across his walls and the pumpkins decorating the doorway. _Definitely a Halloween person._

“Thank you,” Jisung says, spinning in his cloak and landing in a cool pose. He hears Minho snicker at him, but dressed up in a tight catsuit with sparkling fur trim Jisung doesn’t think he’s in much of a place to judge. Not that he doesn’t look hot, he does (mouthwateringly so), he’s just a thin piece of fabric away from showing his whole self to the world.

“Thanks for the invite,” Minho says once he pulls himself together. They step inside as a trio, and Jisung glances across the room to admire the ongoing festivities. He sees his friend Felix decked out in a firefighter costume and runs over to greet him with a hug. Last night he’d been able to recuperate by focusing on his costume, but today every second with Minho leading up to this party feels like he has to spend all his brain power not to just jump him. And all they’d done was walk the ten minutes over.

“Lix, you look great. We gotta get you a firepole,” Jisung cackles, fussing with his friend’s hat. Felix laughs but swats his hands away, handing Jisung an unopened can of soda to keep him occupied.

“Yeah, I’m sure we can find one of those. I’m surprised you're here, this isn’t your normal scene,” Felix says. “But I’m glad.”

“Well, I figured it was time to live a little. Plus Minho said Chan gives out really good candy.”

“Absolutely true. I got like 4 full sized bars last year and a little basket of bite sized stuff. He’s got about a million hard candies this year,” Felix agees. Ah. _Hard candies._

“For the game?” Jisung asks, nodding his head knowingly.

“Huh?”

“The candy passing game?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Is that what they’re for?” Felix asks, seemingly confused. “I don’t remember that from last year, but maybe you know something I don’t?”

“Minho was telling me about it last night. Passing candy from mouth to mouth?” Jisung offers, trying to ring a bell in his friend’s head. He still looks completely blank.

“Sounds unsanitary.”

Jisung scratches the back of his head, a little confused. Felix is always at Chan’s parties, dynamic duo that they are, so if he doesn’t know what Jisung’s talking about how the hell would Minho? Has he been doing it with someone else? The thought kind of makes him sick. “Yeah, maybe.”

Minho walks up to them right after, sidling up behind Jisung and resting a chin on his shoulder. “What’d I miss?”

“Hey, what ga-”

“I was telling Felix he needs to find a stripper pole,” Jisung says, interrupting his friend's sentence. “I mean, a fireman pole.”

“Felix, you trying to be a sexy fireman?”

“He could be. With a pole,” Jisung says.

“I’m sure if we tell Chan that he’ll magically make one appear,” Minho agrees, making Felix flush red.

“Hey, mind your damn business. That’s absurd,” Felix says, scowl deepset in his face. Minho bursts out laughing, chin wobbling up and down on Jisung’s shoulder, which forces him to join in. “You two are ridiculous.”

“Yeah, us two.” Minho glances over at Chan, who seems to have been watching them from afar. _God, he’s so whipped._

But speaking of Chan, Jisung sees a chance to figure out what’s going on and takes it. “I’ll be right back,” he says, slipping out from under Minho and running over to him. He’s in the process of dimming the lights and turning up the music when Jisung comes crashing into him, trying to figure out what’s going on.

_Because if there’s no game, what the hell was Minho up to last night?_

_And how is he supposed to get more?_

“You good? What’s up?”

“Hey, do you have any games organized or whatever? For tonight?” Jisung asks, not wanting to expose himself right away.

“Uhh… Do you want some? We could do that, like truth or dare or something? Or you want to get a little more intimate?” Chan asks. Jisung’s breath stops at that, but he waits for Chan to continue. “Spin the bottle maybe?”

“Is that what you normally do?”

“I mean, sometimes small groups do it I think. It’s never been like a whole party type of thing, at least not here,” Chan says, clearly a bit confused by all the questioning. He keeps fiddling with the soundsystem, trying to find just the right level of bass to get the party going but also keep his neighbors from calling the cops.

“Any other games?” Jisung pries, trying to get the info he needs from Chan. _Did Minho make it up?_

“Not that I’m aware of, but people do all sorts of shit. I’m sure you’ll find something to do when you get tired of dancing,” Chan assures him. Jisung nods and starts to walk away, but stops with one final question at the last moment.

“Why’d you buy so much hard candy this year?”

“It was just on sale.”

* * *

“Minho, what was the name of that game again?”

Jisung, Minho, Felix, and their friend Hyunjin are standing in a little corner of the party, taking a break from dancing after what feels like absolute ages. Minho has been clingy tonight, especially on the dance floor, and there’s only so much waist grabbing, hip swaying, heavy breathing, and borderline grinding he can take before he blows a fuse. Something in his best friend seems to have snapped since last night, and god can Jisung relate.

“Oh, um, I’m not sure,” he says, looking surprised that Jisung brought it up.

“That candy game?” Felix asks.

“Yeah, the candy game. Do you know that game, Hyunjin? What’s it called?” Jisung asks, looking at his friend innocently.

“Explain it?”

“It’s like, you have a piece of candy in your mouth, and you have to pass it to the next person without using your hands or anything. Just your lips and tongue and stuff,” Jisung explains, creeping closer to Minho as he does.

Hyunjin looks thoughtful for no more than two seconds before scoffing and tilting his head back in a laugh. “Is that a game? That’s just making out with candy, isn’t it?”

“I mean, he has a point, don’t you think,” Felix agrees, glancing wearily at a wrapped piece of hard candy on the table. “Doesn’t really sound like a game.”

“Huh,” Jisung says, putting his finger to his lips in faux confusion. “Minho, is it just making out? It does kind of sound like just making out.”

“Alright,” Minho says, grabbing Jisung by the wrist and starting to pull him away. “Excuse us for a moment.”

He brings Jisung into a quiet hallway, leans him against the wall right next to an end table experty decorated for the occasion.

“Well?” Jisung asks expectantly. “Why are you the only one who knows about this game?”

“I- was going to pitch it tonight?” Minho tries, guilt turning him red.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. Just needed to make sure it was viable,” Minho says, reaching his hand into a bowl of candies on the table. “That’s why I asked for practice.”

“Well, was it?” Jisung asks, reaching for his own and unwrapping it. Cherry.

“I’m not sure. It seemed pretty intimate,” Minho says. Jisung plops the candy into his mouth and pulls Minho towards him, fingers tufting across the soft fur on his neckline. "I'm not sure everyone would be down for that kind of thing."

“Should we try again?”

Minho looks shocked for a moment, then realizes what he's asking. He nods and closes in on Jisung, body relaxing around him, tongue licking into his mouth and stealing the candy away within five seconds flat. Minho could give a thousand excuses, but all Jisung’s hopeful heart is hearing is _I wanted an excuse to do this with you_. And all he can do in response is grant that wish. They pass the candy back and forth slowly, sucking the flavor from each other’s lips, licking it from their tongues, pulling each other closer under the false premise of not dropping the sugar being shared between them.

One candy turns into two, to three, to four, until Jisung crunches down on one final piece and stops Minho’s hand from reaching into the bowl for more. “No more candy,” Jisung says, connecting their lips briefly before Minho pulls away.

“Huh?”

“No more candy,” he repeats, keeping his friend close. “If I have to eat a piece of candy every time I want to kiss you, I’ll have a cavity by tomorrow.”

“What do you mean- Jisung?” Minho mumbles into his mouth when Jisung brings their lips back together in a normal kiss. Minho still tastes sweet, that’s inevitable, but without the distraction of candy Jisung can appreciate how soft his lips are, how nice they feel pressed together simply without worrying about something dropping from their mouths.

“I mean, you should have just kissed me without the stupid excuse,” Jisung says quietly.

“Well, I kind of needed the dumb excuse,” Minho responds, wrapping an arm around Jisung’s waist. Jisung lets himself be pulled in tighter, lets a hand trail up Minho’s back, his neck, into his hair, lets it fiddle with the fuzzy clips he’s wearing. “I can’t just go around kissing my friends, no matter how much I want to.”

“If you just asked me out,” Jisung whispers, kissing Minho’s lower lip, then his chin, the point of his jaw, trailing small kisses outwards until he reaches its endpoint, “you wouldn’t need excuses.”

“Seriously? Jisung-” Minho sighs, changing the angle of their heads back to kiss Jisung properly.

“Jisung what?”

“Jisung, would you really go out with me?” _Would you really go out with me?_ Like he hasn’t been swooning for well over two years. Like he isn’t blatantly gone for his best friend to the point where everyone knows it but him.

“Yes, I would,” Jisung says, pulling Minho’s mouth back to his. God, this feels right. Kissing with no excuse other than _I really like the boy I’m dating_. It strikes his mind that he should probably say that. “Just to make sure I didn’t draw my own conclusions, I’m really, completely into you. Are you- is that shared?”

“Am I into you? Do you think I’d make this dumb shit up if I wasn’t into you?”

“Is that a yes?” Jisung asks. He needs to hear it for it to be true.

“Have been since the day we met,” Minho says. Jisung remembers that day clearly, a pretty boy transferring into their schooling and looking awfully sad and alone at recess. But when Jisung approached him, he smiled. _God, what a beautiful smile._ That smile still makes his heart flutter even now, well out of grade school as they verge on the edge of adulthood.

“When I was twelve?”

“Yeah, when you were twelve. I was new, and you walked up to me with a piece of strawberry candy and asked if we could be friends. My heart melted then and there,” Minho says, unwrapping a new piece of hard candy and sucking it into his mouth, only to reconnect their lips and pass it to Jisung with a soft nudge.

_Strawberry._


End file.
